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Con-Job of Education

Outside of the basics and physical science, there really is not much formal education does that is worthwhile. Kids get student loans with a huge amount of debt they struggle with for years, and then the diploma might as well be for knitting. Other than a doctor or lawyer, it is rare to find someone doing anything remotely what they majored in back in school. The huge bulk of CFOs I meet around the globe have engineering backgrounds, never finance or economics. This raises a serious question. Is higher education just a con-job?

If I offered a service and said you take this and you can make a million annually, teach you a bunch of old ideas and theories, discourage thinking out of the box, I think that is called FRAUD when there is no way to make good on that claim. This is what higher education has become in America – a giant fraud.

For the first time, I have been invited to teach courses in Asia and in Europe where universities realize they do not even teach anything to do with how the financial industry functions. Outside the USA, they do have to compete. Inside the USA, they tell kids you need that piece of paper to get a job – any job. You pay a huge amount of money to some school, and then learn on the job anyway. You quickly discover what they teach is nonsense. It is actually better to hire someone outside of their major because they are not biased by the craziness of theories that are older than me and more outdated.

You should look at Switzerland. Only 15% go to college. The rest go into apprenticeships where they learn the real trade. In America, we put too much emphasis on the piece of paper, and then start over anyhow with a practical apprenticeship. So why pay $100,000 for a piece of paper that does not prepare you in the first place? You should compare American education to Europe & Asia. It is seriously lacking.

Japan grills everyone to conform, memorize the answers, and never think out of the box. That is why Japan has failed to be innovative. They can copy what others invent, but are lacking in entrepreneurship. We really need reform in higher education. It is time for a real study of that piece of paper kids are paying their dear lives for,